Hilda News - 2003
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9 December 2003
HILDA Survey News
The release of the Wave 2 HILDA data is scheduled for mid January. The Wave 2 CD-Rom will include unit-record data for wave 2 together with revised data files for wave 1. The wave 1 data files will include variables not previously released, such as imputed household income and a series of derived after-tax income variables. All data will be provided in both SAS and SPSS format. In addition, the CD-Rom will include codebooks and other documentation.
As in wave 1, the data will be available to all 'bona fide' researchers and government employees with a research function.
The action you need to take to request a copy of the Wave 2 CD-Rom will depend on which of the following groups you fall into:
i) Existing Australian government and academic users (excluding FaCS users): complete the attached order form marked for you and fax it to us (fax details are on the form).
ii) Existing overseas academic users and Australian non-govt non-academic users: complete the attached order form marked for you and fax it to FaCS (fax details are on the form).
iii) New users: you will need to complete the appropriate HILDA Release 2 order form and deed of license which will be available from the HILDA website soon.
iv) FaCS users: Contact Carole Heyworth for the appropriate forms to complete.
A charge of $77 (inc GST) for handling costs is payable ($132 for overseas users).
If you have any questions, please email Nicole Watson.
29 October 2003
We are currently preparing the next Annual Report for the HILDA Survey. Included will be a section on activity by users which will list HILDA papers and publications that use HILDA Survey data.
If you are a user of the HILDA Survey data and have any conference or working papers (or better still, any forthcoming articles in journals or books) that are listed on our site, please let me know so we can add it to our rapidly growing list.
8 October 2003
HILDA Survey News
New HILDA Discussion Papers
Two new Discussion Papers are now accessible on the HILDA web site. Both have been prepared by our Deputy Director, Bruce Headey, and outline our intended approach with respect to:
(i) the imputation of taxes to be used in he derivation of post-tax incomes variables; and
(ii) the measurement of income and wealth.
We would be happy to receive comments on any issues raised in those papers. Please forward comments to Bruce Headey.
Use of HILDA data
I am pleased to inform you that we currently have over 180 registered users of the Wave 1 HILDA Survey data and that a growing number of papers using the HILDA data have been presented at conferences. A detailed list of this small, but growing list of HILDA publications using the HILDA data is now available.
If there are any users out there who have papers that are in the public domain, please send us the details. We are also happy to place electronic versions of the paper on the web site.
Wave 2 Data Release
The Wave 2 data file file, together with a revised version of the Wave 1 data (including, for example, imputed income variables), is expected to be released just prior to Christmas. We expect within the next four weeks or so to be posting instructions on our web site about the procedures for ordering the Wave 2 data.
Wave 3
Wave 3 is currently in the field. As in Wave 2, while most interviews should be completed before Christmas, interviewing is not expected to be finalised until March 2004. By the end of September, interviews had been completed at approximately 3000 households.
Wave 4 and beyond
If you were not already aware, I again confirm that the funding for HILDA has been extended by one year, providing at least 4 waves. FaCS will again be submitting a submission to Cabinet seeking a further 4-5 waves.
Feedback on Wave 1
Finally, our Survey Manager, Nicole Watson is eager to receive any feedback on any aspects of the Wave 1 data release, but especially the documentation that accompanied the data.
29 August 2003
Wave 1 HILDA Users:
A couple of problems with the HILDA codebook and a derived variable have come to our attention that you should be aware of.
Codebook problem: First home owner (ahspown)
One of our users has identified a problem with the codebook for the variable which identifies first home owners (AHSPOWN). The codes are incorrectly labelled in the codebook (1 should be for 'not a first home owner' and 2 should be for a 'first home owner'). If you are working from the marked up questionnaire, then you do not need to worry about this.
Codebook problem: Family type (ahhfty01-ahhfty12)
Several codes are listed in the codebook for family type but they were listed by mistake and are not used in describing family type (these codes 28, 29, and 99).
Derived variable problem: Time lived in first defacto relationship (aordflt)
If the respondent answered the question about how long they lived in their first defacto relationship in both months and years, the derived variable aordflt has been calculated incorrectly.
29 July 2003
Just letting you know that fieldwork for Wave 3 commences in about one month, and copies of most of the HILDA survey instruments are now available on the HILDA web site.
The main feature of Wave 3 is the inclusion of a module on retirement and plans for retirement in the CPQ. There are also a scattered number of new questions in the CPQ on work-related training and the employment status of non-resident parents. You will also see some new questions within the SCQ measuring: self-efficacy, marital relationship quality and the presence of major illness conditions.
The other major difference between Wave 2 and Wave 3, of course, is the deletion of most of the wealth questions (except those relating to housing wealth).
11 June 2003
1. Publications
All HILDA data users are reminded that as part of their contract with the Commonwealth they are required to provide copies of any working papers and conference papers that use these data. Currently available on our web site are all the papers presented at the HILDA Conference in March, papers by FaCS staff that accompanied the Wave 1 data release, and a working paper. To download any of these go to the HILDA Bibliography and follow the links.
The first working paper is titled: The Characteristics of Casual and Fixed-Term Employment: Evidence from the HILDA Survey and is written by myself and Diana Warren.
2. Deputy Director
I also have much pleasure in announcing that Associate Professor Bruce Headey has been appointed to the recently created position of Deputy Director, HILDA Survey Project, on a part-time basis. Bruce is an extremely prolific researcher who is perhaps most well-known for his work in the 1980s with Alex Wearing on subjective well-being. During the 1990s his research interests have focused around the analysis of international panel survey data, which lead to the co-authored publication in 1999 of The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism by Cambridge University Press. Bruce has already been working with HILDA, being a member of the income design team for Wave 1 and assisted with the design of the wealth module for Wave 2.
3. Wave 3
Earlier this year I indicated that Wave 3 would include two new modules: one on retirement and the transition to retirement and one on information technology and e-learning. However, due to events outside of our control, we have been forced to withdraw the module on IT and e-learning.
17 April 2003
We have now completed the fieldwork for Wave 2 and the response rates obtained are very encouraging. A total 13,041 interviews in 7,245 responding households were conducted in Wave 2. These interviews were obtained from:
86.8% of people who completed an interview in Wave 1 (resulting in 13% attrition);
19.7% of people who were non-respondents in Wave 1 (these were converted in Wave 2);
80.4% of people who turned 15 since Wave 1 (and were now eligible for interview); and
73.9% of people who were new entrants to the household in Wave 2 (they joined the household since Wave 1).
These numbers are still subject so some changes as we go over the data in detail. These response rates are in line with those obtained the British Household Panel Survey, especially the recent addition of the Welsh and Scottish sub-sample.
We are aiming to make the Wave 2 files available to researchers in December 2003 or January 2004 - there is obviously much work to do between now and then.
The percentages given exclude people who are known to be ineligible for interview in Wave 2 from both the numerator and denominator. People known to be ineligible are those that we know have died or moved overseas since Wave 1.
10 April 2003
Copies of the Wave 3 Dress Rehearsal instruments can now be downloaded/viewed from the HILDA website.
The main difference this year is the inclusion of modules on Retirement and on Information Technology in the Person Questionnaire.
4 April 2003
Please note that a new discussion paper has been added to our HILDA website. The focus of this new paper is on the imputation strategy that we plan to adopt for Wave 1. While the variables that we will impute have been determined, we do invite comment on the methods we intend to use. Please email your comments to Nicole Watson.
HILDA discussion paper 1/03 'Towards an Imputation Strategy for Wave 1 of the HILDA Survey' is now available.
17 March 2003
HILDA Conference 2003 Papers
The papers from the 2003 HILDA Conference held on Thursday 13 March 2003 at the University of Melbourne are now available from our HILDA website.